Wednesday, January 24, 2018

RIP Jack Ketchum (1946-2018)

Sad news: renowned horror writer Jack Ketchum (pseudonym of Dallas Mayr) has died today at age 71. Two of his novels, Off Season (1981) and The Girl Next Door (1989), remain two of the most effective examples of the genre I can imagine. He remained prolific and gained quite a reputation in the 21st century as his novels reached a larger audience and movies were adapted from his works. The horror community mourns the loss, as he was generous with his time and advice to fellow horror writers and his fans. One of the best ways to remember him is to read his books...

4 comments:

A sad day for horror fans around the globe. I'll never forget reading The Girl Next Door in a single sitting. Off Season and Offspring were classics, too. Cover is criminally underrated. He'll be missed.

Girl Next Door is still the most harrowing novel I've ever read. I remember reading it in the backseat during a drive to a family vacation in Florida. I was so wrapped up in the book I didn't ask "are we there yet?" even once. That's also probably the best book that I'm almost afraid to recommend to people, because a lot of people wouldn't be able to handle it.

Girl Next Door, one of the absolutely most harrowing pieces of fiction written, for me personaly up on a level reached only by Pet Sematary, some Stephen King short stories, and some of Thomas Ligottis stories.

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